This has been a very challenging year for the planet’s food supply. In particular, grains have been in short supply as we now grow grains for both food for our bodies and fuel for our cars (ethanol). This has led to unprecedented demand and record high grain prices. As a result, global hunger has grown to epidemic proportions. What can we do about this? One idea is to eat less meat!

Guess the number of Tofurky Roasts sold in order to calculate the total pounds of grain saved from eating Tofurky Roasts instead of turkey in the year 2008. If your guess is correct, you will win a new eGO Electric Cycle (www.egovehicles.com)!

All entries must be received via the website or sent to Turtle Island Foods, Attn: Grain Saver Contest, POB 176, Hood River, OR 97031 and postmarked by 11:59 pm PST December 31, 2008.

For official rules and information, click here.

I picked up a tofurkey yesterday at Trader Joes. In the past I skipped and focused on the part of the meal that I’ve always loved best – potatoes and stuffing. 

I use a combination of french bread cubes and cornbread for the stuffing. I cube it and let it sit out and dry a bit. I saute onions, garlic, and celery in olive oil, then add vegetable broth to the pain to heat. I add the cubed bread to the pain moisten it, transfer to a baking pan, cover with foil, then I stick it in a hot oven (350 F). I bake it until heated through, about …..oh 15-20 minutes, then I remove foil and let it brown a little on the top. That’s it. Simple. Yummy. 

For the potatoes, I like to use a red potato and I do not add any cheese or anything. I’ve seen a lot of parmesan potatoes on the cooking shows. That sounds good, but I’m a bit of a tradionalist and I want my dishes to taste like the meals I remember preparing with my Grandma, in her kitchen.  

I would love to post a collection of links to your blog featuring your Thanksgiving or holiday recipes. Please email me your links and I will put something together to feature early next week – I want to get it out in time for shoppers.

Image credit – Torfurky.com

Post from: Blisstree

What Are You Making For Thanksgving Dinner?

As I mentioned a couple days ago, I decided to get a Tofurky for Thanksgiving. It turned out better than I expected (granted, my expectations were pretty low). The tiny little 6-serving roast had to jockey for position in an oven full of a giant turkey, dressing, pies, and other stuff, but it managed to get well-cooked and make it to the table in time.

I didn’t read the directions thoroughly, and ended up having to speed-defrost the Tofurky in the microwave before baking it, but it seemed to come out OK despite this. I basted the Tofurky according to the package directions (with a simple mixture of olive oil, soy sauce, and sage – actually we were out of sage, so I used poultry seasoning instead) and wrapped it up in aluminum foil with a quartered onion (the package suggested adding some carrots and potatoes, too, but we didn’t have any carrots, and there were plenty of other potatoes being cooked that day). After it baked for about an hour and a half in the oven, we carved it and brought it to the table.

The Tofurky tasted about as I would expect an imitation turkey would taste – that is, it tasted like any other average fake-meat product. It wasn’t fabulously good, but it really wasn’t bad, either. The thin slices tasted better than the thick ones (the first couple slices were much too thick). The inside of the Tofurky contains stuffing which was pretty good (but if you’re a big fan of stuffing, you’d probably be disappointed with how little there is – so make some extra on the side). Only a couple people wanted to try it (of the 10 people at the table), so I ended up with plenty of leftovers. Tofurky sandwiches!

The Tofurky-brand vegetarian gravy (bought separately) was pretty good, too, and I applied it liberally to my Tofurky, dressing, and mashed potatoes.

Overall it was fun to try out a Tofurky, but who knows if I’ll ever get one again. I’ve never felt like I was missing out by not having a turkey-like main dish at Thanksgiving, so I could take it or leave it. Tofurky really isn’t as bad as I’d heard it was, though, and I’d happily eat it again if we happened to cross paths down the road (unlikely in my new home in Munich, but perhaps on another trip to the US…).

Post from: Blisstree

The Tofurky review